Without You
by tatsulokV2
Summary: Peyton was ready to move on with her life, without Lucas Scott. Post-In Da Club. Crossover with Wrestling; do not read if it bothers you.
1. Intro

_"Lucas asked me to marry him."_

Peyton Sawyer expected her heart to break when those words were spoken by someone who clearly wasn't her, but somehow, the heart break never came. She could only stare at the diamond engagement ring glistening off of Lindsay's ring finger in disbelief. She then turned her attention to Lucas and noted his look of regret. A low chuckle escaped her lips, although it wasn't quite low enough not to have been heard by the newly engaged couple. They stared at her in confusion. Lucas advancing towards them... Peyton slowly backed away, and continued to do so even as Lucas stood by his future Mrs. "Congratulations," she managed to say with just the tiniest bit of enthusiasm. It was the only thing they were going to get out of her...

"Peyton..."

She had almost reached the sidewalk, but she stopped at the sound of his voice. She titled her head as she studied Lucas, completely ignoring his fiancee. And as she stared at him, she was aware of her lack of tears, her eyes dry... She figured that it was because she was already all cried out, or possibly because the situation didn't deserve her tears. She felt that the latter was more accurate. Why would she cry over a man that had proposed to one woman, girlfriend or not, after having kissed another, ex-girlfriend or not. And Peyton was finally able to smile about everything...

Lucas frowned, Lindsay continued to watch her in confusion and, when Peyton spared her a glance, she noted a bit of smugness in her gaze which caused Peyton to inwardly roll her eyes... If she had only known where her fiance had been...

"Congratulations, Lucas," She tried again. No use of nicknames. No Luke, just Lucas. And her smile only widened when she was finally able to put a finger on her sudden change of heart...

She was finally letting him go.

She turned her smile on Lindsay, ignoring the other woman's look of surprise. She wondered what exactly was going on in her head, had she really thought she would have caused some sort of scene?

"Lindsay, that's a beautiful ring and it shows how much Lucas really loves you," she said as a compliment, having recognized the ring as the same one that Keith had given Karen prior to the school shooting back in high school. She briefly wondered about the engagement ring Lucas had brought with him to Los Angeles all those years ago, but quickly dismissed the thought. It no longer mattered.

She offered the couple another smile, before slowly turning around to continue down the sidewalk. She had only taken a couple of steps when she had heard Lucas call out her name once more. She growled under her breath, she really just wanted to get the hell out of there... She may be letting him go, but she still loved him damn it. And she was tired of continuously making a fool out of herself for this man... but, still, she turned around.

His crystal blue eyes seemed to trace over her, before settling on her eyes. Lindsay wrapped up in his arms...

"Thank you," were his only words.

And she only offered a shrug in response before turning around once more, this time with no intention of turning back even if they called out to her again, and continued down the sidewalk. She had walked the entire way over, wanting to take the time to clear her head, and as she walked back to the house she shared with her best friend, Brooke, it seemed as if a weight was being lifted from her shoulders and her outlook in life brightened, even if it was just a little...

If he had proposed to another woman, she kind of thought that Lucas Scott was not destined for her...

'True Love Always' had been in high school, a part of her life that was so far away in the past, and she wasn't the same girl she had been back then.

She used to be fearless, she used to feel invincible.

Peyton frowned.

She had come back to Tree Hill, not because of Lucas like everyone had thought, but because she really did miss the girl she used to be.

And it was time to take it all back.

Without Lucas Scott.


	2. One

She had thought it would have been easier, moving her office out of Tric and taking it elsewhere. Away from Lucas. And it did help, or at least it will help eventually in regards to Lucas. But, since she had informed him as well as Karen of her move and because she wasn't in quite a hurry to move and a majority of her office had yet to be touched, she was forced to deal with Lucas's constant presence in her office as she tediously packed boxes. He was still trying to get her to change her mind and, quite frankly, she was getting rather tired of it.

"Lucas, I'm serious, get the hell out of here." She hadn't even bothered to look at him, instead taking books and albums off of the shelves in one side of the room and crossing the distance of said room and carefully placing them in boxes that lined the other wall. She kind of thought that it would be easier if she were to push the boxes closer to where she was currently working but... She dismissed that thought and once again walked across the room. She spared a glance at the older Scott brother. He was watching her from the entrance and she wondered why he didn't just walk inside, but thought better than to ask him because she really wanted him gone. He was starting to creep her out, with him just standing there and watching her. He had lost all staring privileges a long time ago...

"Would you like some help?" She heard him ask and she rolled her eyes as she continued to empty one shelf.

"No, Lucas, I really just want you to leave."

"I don't understand why we just can't be friends, Peyt..."

Another roll of her eyes. It wasn't that they couldn't be friends, they could definitely try and if it worked out then it worked out, but it was just too early. That, and the fact that Lucas was still looking at her as if she had broken his heart, not the other way around. In fact, she told him so, minus the whole broken heart thing, of course.

"I just need some time, I need you to stay away for a while. Would you please do that for me? It's the least you can do, right?" She asked and turned away from the shelves in time to watch him nod. She offered him a small smile and opened her mouth to thank him, but was interrupted with the sudden appearance of two other blond men at the entrance of her office. Her jaw dropped open and she quickly shoved everything in her arms back onto the shelf in front of her before letting out a shriek of surprise and rushing towards the men. Lucas already forgotten...

"Oh my God, what are you guys doing here?" She couldn't help but question, her arms already wrapped around the taller of the two men's waist. Although, both men were really tall, over six feet, in fact. The taller of the two stood at about six feet, five inches with long blond hair, which was currently tied in a pony tail, while the other was a couple of inches shorter with short blond hair.

The man she was hugging started to laugh, his arms tightly wound around her. He carefully pulled away from her after a moment and freed her from his arms, prompting her to turn to the other man and wrap her arms around him. "Well, we've heard so much about the town, figured that we'd make an appearance, possibly stay a bit..."

Peyton made a face of confusion, no longer hugging the other man, but had his arm draped over her shoulder instead. Her own arm snaked around his waist. "And you couldn't have called me first? What if I wasn't in town, what would y'all have done then?"

"And exactly where would you be if you hadn't been in town?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, trying to sign artists or something. Tree Hill isn't exactly known for it's musical talents, it's more of the lack thereof, really. I've actually got to go out and look..."

Pony tail's face scrunched up. "I thought you have an artist signed already?"

She rolled her eyes, arm tightening around the other man's waist. "Yeah, one artist, big whoop."

"I'm sure you'll manage." The shorter of the two said.

"I always do, don't I?" She grinned at her guests, rather enjoying their surprise visit. The sound of someone's throat being cleared reminding her that she wasn't exactly alone earlier... She bit on her bottom lip as she turned to face Lucas, offering him a sheepish smile as an apology. She gestured to the man beside her...

"This is Christian," she introduced before nodding her head in the general direction of the taller blond, her eyes still on Lucas. "And that one over there is Adam... my half brother. Guys, that's Lucas." She paused, unsure of what to call him, they weren't exactly friends yet and calling him her ex-boyfriend or almost fiance wasn't exactly an option for her so after a while she just continued to remain silent. Although, from the corner of her eyes she had seen the questioning looks Adam and Christian had sent her way, she ignored them for the time being. Both men have read the book and were well aware of the situation...

"These are your brothers?" Lucas asked, tone confused.

She sighed, knowing that she would have to explain. "Adam is actually my brother, same father... After Ellie had died, I found a slip of paper with a name and number in one of her favorite albums. It also said that he was my brother and I've never actually had the courage to call him until a few years ago when I was still in LA. Christian is his brother from his mother's side and they've grown up together. It was a slow start for us all, but now... Well, they're two of my best friends so..." She trailed off with a shrug.

"Does anyone else know or-?"

"Brooke was the only one that knew, and she's actually met them already. I haven't really spoken to anyone else from Tree Hill these last few years so I've never told others."

Lucas nodded, but she could see that he was a hurt by the fact that she hadn't confided in him. She wondered how he could possibly think that she would have been able to...

"Well, I should get home, Lindsay's probably waiting," he said breaking the silence.

She watched him as he stepped forward and shook hands with her brother and Christian, telling them that it had been nice meeting them and that they should all get together soon. Although, the latter had been directed at her more than the others. She refused to respond, not really wanting to be around Lucas and his fiancee, or even Haley...

The day after Lucas had proposed to Lindsay, Haley had asked to meet with Peyton in the studio, informing her that she had seen her kiss Lucas and had warned Peyton to stay away, that Lucas was finally happy and that Peyton had missed her chance. Peyton, in return, had at first just sat there, feeling embarrassed, but then she had recalled that Lucas had kissed her back and that she hadn't deserved all of the blame... She then immediately asked Haley to leave, informing her that she was no longer needed. As Haley was leaving, Peyton couldn't help but say something else.

"We're no longer friends, Haley. We haven't been for a really long time."

And Haley hadn't even stopped on her way out the door.

"Well, that was kind of awkward," Adam commented once Lucas was gone. He smiled down at his sister and pulled her into another hug. "God, I've missed you, little girl."

Peyton laughed, hugging him back. "I haven't been gone that long..."

"Long enough that we've decided to actually move to Tree Hill, anyway."

Peyton gasped, pulling away from her brother and staring up at him in surprise before turning her look of surprise on Christian. "Are you serious?"

They grinned and gave her a nod.

"Oh, that is so awesome! I can't believe y'all are moving here! We have to tell Brooke, we have to celebrate! Have you already found a place to stay? Do you need a place to stay? Oh my God, you're moving to Tree Hill!"

Adam and Christian shared a laugh, Adam's arm draped over Peyton's shoulder this time, leading her out of her office while Christian followed, closing the door behind them.

Tree Hill was definitely going to get interesting.

...

**Author's Note:** Right, so no Derek or Psycho-Derek. And for those who would like to get a visual of Adam and Christian... youtube . com/watch?v=eZVNTEmmxTE (just delete the spaces between youtube . and com =D)


End file.
